Newbie fodder questions - I'm overwhelmed!!

[6of6chicks]

So there is this thread on fodder:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/713334/growing-fodder-for-chickens

It's awesome. But it's 379 pages, and honestly I was overwhelmed about 20 pages in!

I checked the Learning Center and didn't find an article on this type of feeding. Maybe I missed it?

I think I've got the "what" and "how" questions down (like how to grow it, etc.), but I'm stuck on the "when" and "why" questions:

Is this something I SHOULD be doing for my chickens? Do you feed this INSTEAD of the crumbles, or is this a treat? Do I just put a flat of it in there and let them have at it unrestricted, or do I need to be portioning it out? What about chickens still on chick/grower feed - do they still need that even if I'm giving them fodder?

I'm in Texas and have a green yard all year long. Is fodder better than my yard, or is this something northern folks who get snow do in the winter?

And essentially this is just sprouts, right? Just a different name when used for livestock? So for my chickens: corn, oats, barley, wheat...anything else? I saw not to use flax seeds. Any other no-no's? Is there a handy list or chart somewhere?

I'm REALLY sorry if that's covered in the growing fodder thread. I was just overwhelmed by such a long thread, especially since I clicked on it because I didn't know what fodder was!! If someone could break it down for the newbie I would be very grateful!

 

[Nuggetirl]

My understanding is that this is strictly a treat. Fodder is completely unnecessary.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/02/sprouting-grains-for-chickens-fodder.html
is a good article to read. Basically it's entertainment and has nutritional value (along with making the eggs darker and more nutritios) but cannot be fed instead of chicken feed.

 

[6of6chicks]

My understanding is that this is strictly a treat. Fodder is completely unnecessary.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/02/sprouting-grains-for-chickens-fodder.html
is a good article to read. Basically it's entertainment and has nutritional value (along with making the eggs darker and more nutritios) but cannot be fed instead of chicken feed.

Wow, thank you! That article answered every single question I had!!

I had pretty much decided fodder was more work than I wanted to do right now, but I did try sprouting scratch grains. I have a mesh sprout lid that fits over a mason jar and often make sprouts for myself. The scratch sprouted beautifully, and I gave it to them around day 4. They went HOG WILD over it. They like the scratch, but don't tend to eat it all. They just about tore the run apart searching for any sprouts they might have missed, lol! So I've added it to the treat rotation (in addition to garden veggies) once or twice a week. I don't go overboard with treats, but I also don't free-range (hawk problem), so sprouts & veggies are a nice way to get some greens in their diet.

Thanks again - that article was a perfect summary for this newbie!

 

[Nuggetirl]

Quote: Glad I could help. Sounds like you have some entertaining chickies of there.